The company had been planning to advertise data usage on the iPhone as ”unlimited”, while insisting on a ”fair usage” policy, whereby it could cap use at 200 megabits of data per month. Fair-usage policies are a standard approach across the sector.
”So we’ve taken the decision to remove the fair usage cap so that ‘unlimited’ really does mean ‘unlimited’ – this is a market first.” Telegraph article.
Fine by me!
Unlocking cellphones also raises some interesting legal issues as consumers ask whether the practice of unlocking mobile phones is legal.
In certain respects, this is an odd question to even have to ask - no one would ever question whether consumers have the right to tinker with their car or to use the same television if they switch cable or satellite providers, yet the telecom industry has somehow convinced the public that unlocking their phones - consumers’ own property - is wrong. BBC - Unlocking the locked phone debate.
Interesting article which certainly raises some good points regarding the legal situation of unlocking mobile phones.
Just to follow suit with every other website, the iPhone was announced here in the UK this morning.
The release date is set for November 9th, with a cost of £269.
That gets you the 8GB version. So they’re making almost 100% mark up compared to the US pricing.
Price plans range from £35 - £55 and have an agreement with The Cloud network for free WiFi.
Unfortunately there’s no 3G version available, only EDGE. Apparently the 3G chips use too much power.
Plan lengths are 18 months and apparently WiFi isn’t as unlimited as the definition of unlimited states in the dictionary. You’re allowed 1,400 page views per day. Still good, but not as unlimited as you would think.
Matthew Key from O2 says they’ll only have 30% coverage of the UK with EDGE technology. 30%!? Where’s the point of getting an iPhone if 70% of the country won’t be covered!
That’s the press conference all finished. All taken from here.
I made a vow when I went travelling that if I was still being plagued with reception problems at home, I’d switch from Orange to another more reliable company.
When we got back, nothing much had changed. I was still getting missed calls even though my phone never actually rang. A bit of a pain, especially if you’re trying to field business like I do most days.
The call
This evening I made a call to the Orange disconnection department. Being on hold for fifteen minutes made me want to leave even more, but I waited patiently and eventually spoke to one of their representatives.
After the usual why do you want to leave Orange question, I proceeded to explain my gripes with the lousy reception I get at home and round certain peoples houses. This is the point where I was told that I could leave Orange, but I’d have to buyout my contract. Buyout. That’s a nasty word. It’s going to cost me £214 to buyout my contract for the rest of the time left. Ouch.
Read the rules
I’m currently left pondering what to do. £214 is a lot of cash to flash just to have my phone disconnected. Supposedly the iPhone European announcement will be tomorrow. I’ll wait until at least then before I decide what to do.
I’m going to find a copy of Oranges terms of engagement. Maybe I can wangle my way out of it because they’re not providing the service I signed up for. We’ll see where that one ends up, but for the time being, I get stuck with bad reception and a potentially large bill floating in front of me!
